1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving control apparatus (method) having a lane keep function and a lane departure warning function.
2. Related Background of the Invention
A variety of driving control (support) apparatus (method) have been developed in order to support driver's driving. An example of the driving control apparatus is a lane keep system (lane keep function) of adding a steering force so as to keep a vehicle traveling near a center of a lane in order to support the driver's steering operation (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-104850). The lane keep system is configured to recognize a lane (white line) ahead the vehicle from a photographic image taken by a camera and to set a steering force to be added, based on a relative relation between the recognized lane and the vehicle. Another example of the driving control apparatus is a cruise control system for maintaining a vehicle speed set by the driver or for adding a braking force or a driving force to track a preceding vehicle, in order to support a driver's brake operation or acceleration operation. The cruise control system acquires information about the presence or absence of the preceding vehicle or a following distance from the preceding vehicle by use of a radar sensor or the like, sets the additional braking force or driving force to control the vehicle speed to the set speed, in the absence of the preceding vehicle, and sets the additional braking force or driving force so as to keep constant the following distance from the preceding vehicle, in the presence of the preceding vehicle.